Apple Raises Indonesia Investment Offer to $1B Amid iPhone Ban

[MacRumors]

Apple has significantly hiked its investment proposal to Indonesia and is now offering $1 billion in a bid to resolve the ongoing iPhone 16 sales ban in the country, according to the country's investment minister Rosan Roeslani (via Reuters).

Speaking to lawmakers on Tuesday, Roeslani said the government expects to receive a written commitment from Apple within a week. "Whoever benefits from the sales must invest here, create jobs here," he added. The investment is described as a "first phase" of Apple's potential involvement in the country. The offer marks a tenfold increase from Apple's previous proposal earlier this month.

The negotiation stems from Indonesia's October ban on iPhone 16 sales after authorities determined Apple had not met the country's requirement for 40% domestic content in smartphones. The government previously rejected Apple's initial $10 million offer, followed by a $100 million proposal that included plans for research and development facilities and developer academies.

The government is particularly interested in having Apple establish local manufacturing partnerships and source components domestically. Apple has maintained developer academies in Indonesia since 2018, but the country currently hosts no Apple manufacturing facilities. Apple has not responded to requests for comment regarding the latest investment proposal.

Note: Due to the political or social nature of the discussion regarding this topic, the discussion thread is located in our Political News forum. All forum members and site visitors are welcome to read and follow the thread, but posting is limited to forum members with at least 100 posts.

Article Link: Apple Raises Indonesia Investment Offer to $1B Amid iPhone Ban

 

[lenningj]

now that's squeezing the $ out of Apple, W Indonesia

 

[dugbug]

at some point every country on earth will have a $1B apple investment.

 

[Radeon85]

Shouldn't have paid them a penny. Indonesia would probably soon change its tone if Apple completely pulled out of the country.

 

[dantay]

That worked then.

 

[TechWhisperer]

This feels like blackmail to me.

 

[mystery hill]

If Apple took advice from commenters here they would be broke.

 

[wanha]

Shouldn't have paid them a penny. Indonesia would probably soon change its tone if Apple completely pulled out of the country.

pretty sure Apple did a thorough analysis on this and decided on the course of action that is the most beneficial for the company

 

[bLackjackj]

This feels like blackmail to me

Its called business.🙄

 

[63W]

A billion to start with. Don't worry everyone, Apple will end up paying through the nose and a billion is just enough to wipe a few peoples asses.

 

[nermal0]

Indonesia should reject this offer, Apple’s next offer will be $10bn.

 

[antiprotest]

How much of these monies will go to the officials' businesses or businesses of their friends and families?

 

[Skyscraperfan]

I love what Indonesia does. Usually it is the opposite. Rich companies ask for billions of dollars in subsidies wherever they build new factories. Amazon for example asked for $3 billion from New York City to locate Amazon HQ2 there. That has led to large scale protests and ultimately Amazon HQ2 will be built in Virginia.

I think countries around the world should unite against that kind of blackmail and make subsidies like that illegal everywhere.

I was in Jakarta this year. A fascinating city, but very poor. About 90% of it is slums. Pressing one billion out of Apple is a big deal. There is so much investment needed in Jakarta alone and I can understand that Indonesia does not want billions of dollars flowing out of the country into the pockets of Apple.

 

[Radeon85]

Its called business.🙄

I'd call it bribery.

 

[t0rqx]

instead of playing along with this blackmail. Use this f money to improve QC on the screen of Macbooks. They all come with scratches and dents.

 

[From Win to Mac]

I'm impressed, kinda gangster in the way businesses usually go for.

 

[Mitochris]

I guess this is one way of trying to fight the negative sides of globalisation, where products are generated cheaply somewhere else, sold in your country, but the profits disappear abroad again. This just drains money out of a country. I am no economist but this seems to be a big problem in today’s world.

 

[webkit]

This feels like blackmail to me.

I'd call it bribery.

How is it blackmail or bribery? That's kind of like calling Apple's 15% to 30% App Store commission blackmail or bribery. It's not and neither is this.

 

[wanha]

I'd call it bribery.

If only it were that simple.

In business, whoever has the higher bargaining power gets to set the price. The weaker side has the choice to walk away if they don't like it.

This is how it has always been in every area of business and likely always will be.

 

[StuBeck]

Pretty impressive how quickly Indonesia has been able to up the investment offer from Apple over a few weeks.

 

[StoneJack]

1 billion is peanuts for apple. Win win

 

[ddtmm]

Shouldn't have paid them a penny. Indonesia would probably soon change its tone if Apple completely pulled out of the country.

Apple’s not pulling out of Indonesia that easy. Too much to leave in the table. They’re 3/4 the size of the US.

 

[hoodlum90]

This will set a precedent. Other countries are watching.

 

[Siliconguy]

I'm impressed, kinda gangster in the way businesses usually go for.

In Indonesia you have no idea how gangster;

Bre-X - Wikipedia

en.wikipedia.org

A short step off a long helicopter was one end.

Hopefully someone at Apple has a sense of history and doesn't try to get cute.

 

[WarmWinterHat]

This will set a precedent. Other countries are watching.

That precedent was set long, long ago. Indonesia is just hoping on the bandwagon...and why not?